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In
response to the quickly shrinking newsroom staffs and the alarming rate of
papers going out of business, the idea of major newspapers turning into
non-profits is not so far fetched. According
to an article in Media Shift, it was among the options discussed at a hearing before
the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. One advocate, Arianna Huffington, co-founder
and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, suggested a new revenue model to
combat the industry’s economic problems and opposed trying to increase revenue
by restricting access to online content.

"The great upheaval
the news industry is going through is the result of a perfect storm of
transformative technology, the advent of Craigslist, generational shifts in the
way people find and consume news, and the dire impact the economic crisis has
had on advertising," she testified. "And there is
no question that, as the industry moves forward and we figure out the new rules
of the road, there will be -- and needs to be -- a great deal of
experimentation with new revenue models."

Another
backer of broadening the options for the struggling papers was
Senator Ben Cardin. The committee discussed
his proposal for legislation that would allow newspapers to transition to
non-profit entities, thereby qualifying for exemption from certain taxes. The catch is that, as non-profits, newspapers
would have to refrain from endorsing political candidates. His proposal is pending as S. 673 (111th Cong., 1st Sess. 2009). Although
the bill has been referred to a committee, no further action has been taken on it
since its introduction in March.